Las Vegas Home Sales Stronger in April, Prices Still Declining

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According to the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors (GLVAR), there was an increased number of local homes sold in April compared to one year ago.

"All things considered, I think we had a pretty good April," said GLVAR President Paul Bell. "Easter, tax season and spring break all fell into April this year. Given all these activities and how they tend to slow home sales, I think our local sales numbers were strong."

The total number of local homes, condominiums and townhomes sold in April was 3,902. That's down from 4,316 in March, but up from 3,738 total sales one year ago. Within that total, single-family home sales increased by 4.5 percent, while sales of condos and townhomes increased 3.9 percent compared to April of 2010.

While local home prices continue to "bounce along the bottom," Bell said this sales pace offers "some light at the end of the tunnel." Since January 2008, when local home sales began to rebound, he said GLVAR's Multiple Listing Service shows that more than 107,000 single-family homes have been sold, or about 24 percent of the roughly 447,000 available single-family homes in Southern Nevada.

"If current sales trends continue, nearly 30 percent of our inventory will have turned over by the end of this year, and 35 percent by mid-2012," Bell said, calling that one of the highest sales rates in the country. "This sales pace should eventually put upward pressure on prices."

Local home prices changed very little from the previous month. According to GLVAR, the median price of a single-family home in April was $125,000, down 0.8 percent from $125,950 in March. April's median home price was down 12.0 percent from one year ago.

Meanwhile, the median price of local condominiums and townhomes sold in April was $60,000. That's down 1.6 percent from $61,000 in March and down 14.3 percent from one year ago.

Bell said real estate investors continue to influence median home prices by purchasing large numbers of lower-priced homes, which are generally owned by banks.

According to GLVAR, 51.9 percent of all existing homes sold in Southern Nevada during April were purchased with cash. That's up from 51.4 percent in March and remains near record levels.

In April, 23.8 percent of all existing homes sold in Southern Nevada were short sales, which occur when a bank agrees to sell a home for less than what the borrower owes on the mortgage. That's up from 23.6 percent in March, but still down from a peak of 34 percent set in June 2010.

In April, GLVAR found that bank-owned homes accounted for 46.3 percent of all existing home sales, down from 47.6 percent in March.

GLVAR reported that the total number of homes listed for sale on its Multiple Listing Service increased slightly from March to April, with a total of 22,443 single-family homes listed for sale at the end of the month. That's up 1.2 percent from 22,184 homes listed for sale at the end of March, and up 7.5 percent from one year ago.

GLVAR reported a total of 5,315 condos and townhomes listed for sale on its MLS at the end of April. That's up 0.9 percent from 5,270 in March, but down 7.6 percent from one year ago.

The number of available properties listed for sale without any sort of pending or contingent offer also increased slightly from the previous month. By the end of April, GLVAR reported 11,366 single-family homes listed without any sort of offer. That's up 0.3 percent from 11,334 homes in March and up 57.7 percent from one year ago.

For condos and townhomes, the 2,727 properties listed without offers in April represented a 1.1 percent increase from the 2,698 properties listed without offers in March and an increase of 19.7 percent from last year.

This month's GLVAR statistics include activity through the end of April 2011. GLVAR distributes such statistics each month based on data collected through its MLS, which does not necessarily account for newly constructed homes sold by local builders or for sale by owners.

Other highlights reported by GLVAR include:

• The monthly value of local real estate transactions tracked through the MLS during April decreased 7.7 percent for homes, to nearly $490 million. For condos and townhomes, the total value of all sales in April was more than $68 million, down 5.0 percent from March. Compared to one year ago, total sales volumes in April were down 4.2 percent for homes and down 3.9 percent for condos and townhomes.

• Through April, 60.8 percent of all homes and 64.5 percent of all condos and townhomes sold within 60 days. That compares to March, when 57.0 percent of all homes and 63.4 percent of all condos and townhomes sold within 60 days.

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